The Best of Intentions: Chapter 12
Aoshi would have to admit to feeling slightly guilty for leaving the Aoiya before the rest of the inhabitants returned home without so much as a by-your-leave. The false smile upon Misao's face as she stood at the door waving farewell also caused a great deal of suspicion for him. There was no need for her fake cheerfulness. It would have been natural to express some of her anger and hurt.
The familiar comfort of Kaoru's hand upon the back of his drew him from his thoughts. He looked down and met her concerned expression. "Care to return to us?" Kaoru asked softly, having a feeling she knew where his thoughts had drifted.
Aoshi turned his hand over so that his palm met hers and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before releasing it. "I am concerned," he answered simply.
"Stop worrying about the weasel girl, will you?" Yahiko interrupted their conversation as he turned to glare at both of them with his hands upon his hips Peter Pan style. "Deliberately hurting Kaoru like she did was inexcusable. So don't you dare feel sorry for her."
The youth's fierce loyalty to Kaoru made Aoshi's lips twitch. He could remember another teen who had defended him blindly, even when he made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her. The memory of Misao trying to prevent him from teaming up with Shishio in his search to honor his dead friends brought another wave of remorse.
Yahiko watched the display of emotional light play within the icy depths of Aoshi's eyes. "Look, Shinomori," he began as he stood directly in front of the older man. "Just because you care about someone doesn't mean that you should sacrifice your own happiness just to please them."
Kaoru bit her lip at Yahiko's statement and tried not to watch for Aoshi's reaction. She knew good and well that her friendship with Aoshi was the entity throwing his relationship with Misao out of whack. She tried not to be selfish, but Aoshi's friendship really was the only thing keeping her from falling into a pit of despair over her own sadness.
Fortunately, Aoshi didn't have to accept or refute Yahiko's observation. "Isn't she beautiful?" Yutaro asked. The magnificent ship that they would be cruising away on was docked at the port.
Aoshi looked down at his watch and noted the time. "We still have two hours before we leave port."
Yahiko shoved his bag at Yutaro. "Kaoru give your bag to Shinomori. We need to send out a post." He barely gave her time to do as requested before taking her by the arm and dragging her to a post delivery system.
Aoshi and Yutaro watched them hurry away. Yutaro shifted uncomfortably. He couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by the larger man. "So, I guess we should set our luggage in our rooms," he suggested.
Aoshi didn't answer verbally but simply gave an affirmative nod and began to make his way to their sea-faring vessel.
"Who did you intend on sending a post to?" Kaoru asked as Yahiko purchased a scrap of parchment at the carrier pigeon post service. Yahiko only looked at her with annoyed brown eyes in exacerbation. "Oh no, we can't write to Kenshin. I don't want to distract him," Kaoru begged. "Besides, I don't think he reads the letters I write anyway," she spoke softly to herself.
"That's why we're writing Sano," Yahiko reassured her. "But I think it would be better if you wrote. My handwriting is terrible." He shoved the parchment and pen into her hands.
"What am I supposed to say?" Kaoru demanded as she looked down at the items in her hands.
"Tell them we'll be at the Chinese seaport three days from now and would like them to meet us there," Yahiko answered.
Kaoru scribbled the note and then looked at Yahiko for more instructions. He took the parchment from her hands and added that they would be traveling to Europe for an undetermined amount of time. He signed his name and then gave the paper back to Kaoru for her to do the same.
After paying the postman for his services, they walked back to the dock and watched as Aoshi and Yutaro fed the seagulls bread. "I don't want to interrupt their business," Kaoru told Yahiko again as they approached their other companions.
"Don't worry, Kaoru. They will want to see us. Believe it or not, I'm sure that they do miss us," Yahiko assured her before he stole the rest of the bread from Yutaro and fed the birds himself. The boy from Germany chased after Yahiko, set on reacquiring his stolen bread.
Aoshi didn't turn when he felt Kaoru standing beside him. Without looking, he broke his bread in half and gave her a portion. Silently, they stood side-by-side feeding the birds, entertaining themselves by watching the featured creature's behavior.
One of the birds tried to take a piece of bread that was at least five times the size of its head. Naturally, with the laws of aerodynamics he dropped the bread, only to watch it be seized by another bird, who consequentially dropped it. The sight brought laughter to Kaoru's lips, causing Aoshi to look at her from the corner of his eye. His heart felt lighter now.
Once the bread was gone and the birds flew away to find travelers with more food for them, Aoshi and Kaoru stood and watched the waves. "It's so peaceful," Kaoru commented.
"Yes," Aoshi agreed, feeling the same sense of contentment he often experienced during meditation. It was interesting that he was spending less and less time meditating. It was as if his soul was being relieved of the turmoil he had grown accustomed to dealing with since the death of his friends.
A gangly sailor approached them, smiling friendly and revealing tar-stained teeth from a habit of smoking tobacco, no doubt. "If you'd like to wait aboard we're starting to let passengers on for more than loading their baggage." His dark grey eyes gave Kaoru an appreciative appraisal before moving on to other waiting passengers.
Aoshi's eyes narrowed at the retreating back of the sailor with the poor dentition. He placed a possessive arm around Kaoru's shoulders and led her onboard. "I don't like the way he was looking at you. I don't want you wandering around this ship alone; do you hear me?"
Kaoru looked at Aoshi in shock. "What are you talking about? He wasn't looking at me any way. Besides, I can take care of myself," she asserted as she slipped out of Aoshi's arm.
Aoshi grabbed hold of both her shoulders and shook her once before bending to look her eye-to-eye, noses brushing. "Listen, Kaoru, we'll be doing a great deal of traveling. I know you can defend yourself in a fair fight. But we'll be encountering many strangers that won't necessarily play fair. A pretty woman and a ship full of horny sailors is not an ideal situation."
Kaoru bit back her automatic denial and considered his words. He was only worried. "Fine," she consented, "just don't treat me like I'm helpless."
"I would never purposely do such a thing," Aoshi assured her. He then kissed her forehead without conscious thought and straightened, not realizing what he had done. Kaoru on the other hand was perfectly aware of the kiss and fought to control the rushing flush up her neck.
Aoshi was looking towards the dock for Yahiko and Yutaro and failed to notice Kaoru's rising color. When he looked back at her, he released her shoulders and touched her cheek with the back of his hand. "I think you may be getting ill. I'll show you to our cabin."
If Kaoru wasn't red-faced before, she became that way once seeing her room, or rather, her and Aoshi's room. There were two beds, sure, but the fact that she would be sharing a room with him seemed very inappropriate. "I'm not sure that we should be sharing a room."
Aoshi looked up at her from his position on the bed. He had lain across it to relax with his arms tucked behind his head. "We're roommates, Yutaro and I flipped a coin for it."
"Yutaro and you-excuse me?"
Aoshi sat up, enjoying the baffled expression on Kaoru's face. "Well, you would either be sharing a room with Yahiko or myself. Yutaro represented Yahiko in the coin tossing, and I won." Kaoru simply stared at him, speechless, causing Aoshi to lay back and fight to control a frustrated sigh. "We would all feel better if no one was alone during our trip. We'll be traveling a long distance, and I prefer to take all the safety precautions possible."
Kaoru pondered his statement and noted that there was at least three feet between the two beds, as they were separated by a chest of drawers. "Okay," she consented reluctantly. She need not mention to Aoshi that her heart was racing at the idea of sharing this room with him.
Aoshi watched as Kaoru lay upon her own futon and promptly feel into a deep sleep. This time he couldn't keep the smile from crawling across his lips at the picture she made. It did his heart wonders to see her safe and relaxed.
The smile fell from his lips as he considered the growing feelings he was having for Kaoru and the possessiveness and protectiveness he experienced towards her. He knew he was in danger of falling in love with her. He was already halfway there, and their journey to Germany would certainly make him fall the rest of the way.
He stared out the portal window on the side wall and observed the ocean. He cared for the woman, no question, but he couldn't love her. He wouldn't allow anyone else to cause him grief. His parents' love was the death of them. The death of his friends caused him to slip into madness.
A glance over his shoulder at the dark haired beauty made his heart hitch in his chest. It was too late to stop his descent. Kaoru belonged to him now. As soon as she got over the Battousai, the possession of his heart by her would be complete.
Silently, he walked towards her futon and kneeled beside it. He gently brushed away the silky hair that clung against her throat. "What have you gotten me into?" He asked the slumbering girl quietly before leaving the room to explore the deck for a place to meditate.
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Hiko was never a man who could have claimed he was impressed by many people. Occasionally, he respected his student, though he more often than not found him to be an idiot. He respected his idiot apprentice's woman. She was strong and determined.
However, if what he had learned of recent activities was true, his woman wasn't really his anymore. He respected the ninja who was temporarily mad with grief. That same ninja now seemed to have possession of Kenshin's woman.
The kid, yeah, he liked the kid with the gravity defying hair. He had more determination than even Kaoru. Now if Kenshin had the same dedication as that boy then he never would have become the Battousai and wouldn't be suffering from guilt. He never would have married that spy woman either. He still couldn't believe that idiot student of his did that.
Sixteen year old boys had too many hormones for their own good.
Hiko had never really considered the doctor woman that was currently walking behind him without so much as a complaint. Her looks were deceiving. He expected her to whine about broken nails and how the humidity was absolute hell on her hair. But she did none of that.
He should have expected more of her. She too, like Kenshin, had a guilt complex. He was aware of her past of selling opium. He was also aware that once released from that situation that she dedicated herself to being a doctor and helped save lives that she once had a part in destroying.
He really wished that she would say something. Normally he preferred silence, but this was ridiculous, and he was starting to become self-conscious. Most women would be fawning over him, looking for an excuse to feel his impressive biceps, but she kept at least three paces behind at all times.
What if he was getting old? He was forty-five now and not getting any younger. Was it possible that he had lost his touch with the fairer sex? Was he no longer attractive? He reached into his coat and pulled out a flask full of fire-water.
"You really should try to cut back on your drinking," Megumi commented. Her feet were killing her, and she was dying to eat something. The only thing she was grateful for at the moment was that she had plenty of water in her canteen so she was not dehydrated. Unfortunately, she was currently over-hydrated and felt like her bladder was about to explode.
Hiko paused and turned to look at her, surprising the doctor in his movement so that she almost ran into him, but pulled herself up short before impact. There was a difference of perhaps five inches between their heights.
"Why would I cut back on my drinking?" Hiko demanded, amused to finally have a conversation to break into his boredom.
"It's bad for your liver and your kidneys and your brain," Megumi answered matter-of-factly. She concentrated hard in not showing any signs of discomfort or her need to relieve herself.
Hiko was watching her closely. "I need to take a leak," he pointed to a patch of trees. "You go over there, and I'll go over there," he pointed to another patch of trees. Megumi blinked at him but didn't say a word as she gratefully went to find a place to do her business.
Hiko nearly laughed at her reaction. Surely, she didn't think that she had fooled him. She was human; it was only natural that they would have to stop for nature's call. They would soon approach the city and need to start taking faster modes of transportation to reach her family. They would eventually need to travel to Europe. Perhaps the train and then a ship would be in order.
After meeting once more on the trail Hiko observed Megumi closely. She narrowed her eyes at him but didn't say anything. "Why don't you walk beside me?" He offered.
"I didn't think there was room for both me and your ego to walk so closely together," Megumi remarked dryly. Her comment caused Hiko's lips to thin at the insult.
"I suppose you could stand to lose some weight woman, but for now I think you may just squeeze in fine beside my ego," Hiko smirked at the scowl upon Megumi's face.
"Do you care to share exactly where we're traveling towards?" Megumi asked as she walked beside the arrogant older man. If it wasn't for his horrible attitude she would find herself attracted to him. Good thing he squashed that notion flat with his overwhelming ego.
"We're going to catch a train and then set sail over the ocean." Hiko answered her, pleased that she was walking beside him. Surely she was attracted to him. She was just playing hard-to-get. He felt a smirk curling his lip at the challenging idea of seducing her. It would certainly make his offer to help more rewarding.
"Why do you look like you are plotting some evil scheme?" Megumi demanded as she slapped a branch out of her way with enough force to snap it off the tree.
With the arrogance that only he possessed, Hiko placed his arm around Megumi's shoulder and stopped her forward progress. He turned her to face him with his other arm, and then placed his hand on the back of her head to tip up her face to his before crushing his lips against hers and stealing her breath away.
After a few moments of asatisfying lip-lock, Hiko released her and continued to walk, expecting her to follow behind him obediently. He heard the female doctor swear at him, but she followed him anyway.
He could feel the sparks flying when he kissed her. It seemed that he hadn't lost his touch yet.
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Kenshin stared at the book he had borrowed from the library for that evening. He wasn't really focused on the words and had read the same page three times without recalling what was going on. His thoughts were elsewhere. He had written another letter to Kaoru with the intentions of sending it.
He had walked to the postal man set on sending it, but something stopped him.
Sanosuke cleared his throat, drawing Kenshin's attention from the book he was attempting to read. Sano stood in the doorframe and frowned at the blank expression on Kenshin's face.
"So, I wrote to Kaoru a while back. I told her that we had decided to stay for two more months," Sano explained.
Kenshinbacked his chair awayfrom his desk, book forgotten. "You did what?" He demanded, eyes flashing violently.
"You weren't going to tell her, and I wasn't about to have her worried that we had died or something." Sanosuke glared at Kenshin with something bordering upon contempt. "I wouldn't make her suffer like that."
Kenshin's shoulder slumped as even more guilt was laid upon them. "I just didn't know what to tell her. I never know what to tell her."
Sano shrugged. "The truth usually works best with Jou-chan. She and Yahiko wrote me back."
"Oro?" Kenshin's head snapped up, and his eyes showed his obvious confusion. "But Yahiko is in Germany." 'Why would they write you and not me?' He asked himself silently.
"Yeah, well, apparently the brat missed Jou-chan and invited her to come to Germany with him. He went and picked her up in Kyoto. And," Sano answered the unasked question, "they wrote me because I actually answer their letters. They probably figure you don't even read them."
"The trip will be good for Kaoru," Kenshin replied, choosing to ignore the last barb.
Sanosuke cleared his throat and shifted his feet. "Actually, she's not the only one that went."
"Oh? Misao-dono accompanied her. That will be good for both of them," Kenshin replied thinking that such an adventure would be perfect for Kaoru.
"Not Misao," Sano corrected.
"Then who?"
"Shinomori," Sano admitted.
"What?" Kenshin shouted as he rose to his feet. "Shinomori, as in Aoshi Shinomori, the man who at one time tried to kill me, Shinomori?"
"That would be the one. I also got this interesting letter from the Kitsune a while back that I didn't tell you about at the time. Apparently Jou-chan and the icicle did travel to Tokyo together. Saitou must have been telling the truth," Sano revealed, feeling sick at seeing the emotional display in Kenshin's eyes.
"Why wasn't Misao with them? Why didn't she travel with them to Tokyo or now?"
"I don't know. But I did tell you that you should have told her how you felt," Sanosuke commented.
Kenshin blinked, "But, Aoshi loves Misao-dono."
Sano arches his brow. "Oh? Does Aoshi know this, or is that just the fantasy that Misao has brainwashed us into believing?"
"Kaoru-dono and Aoshi….." Kenshin trailed off, shaking his head in disbelief and horror. He had convinced himself that Saitou was merely trying to egg him on. That was the real reason he didn't send off the letter he had written to Kaoru. "Don't be ridiculous, Sano, the idea is absurd."
Sano shrugged. "I'm just telling you what I know. The Kitsune said there was definitely something going on between them and that they were just both too blind to see it themselves. They are both attractive single adults; it's perfectly possible." Kenshin crushed the book that was held within his hand, and his eyes flashed amber as all the words processed.
"Ah well, my work is done. I'll see ya," Sano paused at the door. "Actually, Kaoru also asked us to meet them at the shipyard. They will be there tomorrow afternoon."
Kenshin watched his best friend exit and reached into his pocket to pull out the blue ribbon of Kaoru's. He inhaled deeply, "Kaoru……please…..don't leave me," he whispered. There was a sharp pain in the center of his chest at those words. How many times had she pleaded with him not to leave? And never did her pleading make a difference. Why should his? A tear slipped from his eye. "What have I done?"
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There weren't too many passengers on the ship, so the crew was more open with the few that were present. Yahiko and Yutaro were below deck exploring the mechanics responsible for operating the large ship. The ship's captain was delighted to share the workings of his baby with the enthusiastic boys.
Aoshi was pleased to see the happiness that had returned to Kaoru's eyes. She and Yahiko spent a great deal of time together. The boy was truly her family as she was his. Blood ties or not, he had never seen a pair of siblings so close to one another.
Kaoru sat alone watching the waves, searching for signs of dolphins. One of the sailors assured her they traveled these waters. She wasn't sure if he was teasing her or not, but she decided to watch anyway.
Aoshi sat beside her on the deck. "We never did start those cooking lessons," he commented, surprising her with his topic. Inwardly, Aoshi was pleased to have caught her by surprise.
"Yahiko and Yutaro will be horrified if you tell them I cooked."
"I was thinking we could go down to the galley and help the staff with dinner tonight," Aoshi smoothly suggested. He had already cleared up everything with the chef and his crew. The large man with the pointy mustache had enthusiastically agreed to allow Aoshi and his 'pretty woman' to help with dinner.
"Seriously?" Kaoru asked, risking a look at him. She quickly turned back to the sea when she noticed movement from the corner of her eye. Her lips fell apart from one another as she gasped in pure delight. "Did you see that?" She exclaimed as she looked at Aoshi while pointed towards the waves. "Did you see the dolphin jumping above the water?"
Aoshi had been too centered on watching her to notice any dolphins. He didn't want to dampen her excitement, so he merely smiled at her silently. "I'm glad that you saw what you were looking for," he told her. "Come," he stood and offered his hand which she took without hesitation. "Let's go help with dinner."
Once Yahiko caught wind that Kaoru would be helping with dinner he had a ball of fear weighing heavily in his gut. With fearful steps, he and Yutaro went into the room the chef had pointed them towards. Apparently, he had placed Kaoru and Aoshi in charge of baking the biscuits.
Yutaro snickered beside him as they made their way towards the closed door. Yahiko glanced over at him. "You have to admit, a ninja baking biscuits is pretty funny."
"Not when they taste like rocks," Yahiko countered as he opened the door.
The sight that greeted him sent him into belly-aching gales of laughter. It would seem that the biscuits had come out perfectly. It was the bakers that didn't look so perfect.
With guilty expressions upon their faces, Kaoru and Aoshi turned to greet their visitors. From head to toe, the two were covered in flour. It was amazing that there was any flour left to create the biscuits.
"Are you done laughing?" Kaoru asked, sounding vaguely annoyed. She swiped a long strand of white powdered hair from her face impatiently. Yahiko and Yutaro continued to laugh.
"It looks like we should create an alliance now," Aoshi remarked, sounding dignified in spite of doing an impression of a ghost with all his white powder.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Kaoru quoted with a vicious grin as she and Aoshi took some of the flour that had accumulated upon the floor and heaved it at the two laughing teens.
It didn't take long before the chef came to survey the room with the hysterical laughter. If there was any fear that he would be angry for the waste of flour it was soon dissolved as he sampled a biscuit and gave his approval before picking up a fist full of flour and sending it flying at the four.
Eventually, the flour war ended. Aoshi and Kaoru grinned at each other, noting how ridiculous the other looked. Yahiko and Yutaro grew silent as they watched the two adults before quietly slipping out of the room. Yahiko recognized the sparkle that was in Kaoru's eye.
It wasn't the same gleam that was there when she was looking at Kenshin. It was the same sparkle he used to see in his mother's eye when she was looking at his father.
Thanks to CharmedReality for editing!